Euskal Oiloa Chicken Forum

A place to find out more and share what you know about this awesome rare poultry breed! **NOTE: Those who wish to register as a new member on the forum are asked to email eochickenforum@gmail.com and an Administrator will gladly help you join the forum!

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Glad to be invited

So glad to be invited. We are just starting with E.O’s and have had Black Australorps now for a year. My husband has wanted chickens for years and finally won me over after many years of talking. We did lots of research and chose the Australorps for their many attractive qualities. We have 3 hens and currently 2 roosters but are trying to decide which one to keep, the ladies are getting too much attention. We seen an add on kijji for the E.O.’s and looked them up with the little info we could find though we would like to add them to our home. We love our hens they are so friendly and greedy but our roosters not as much as we thought they should be so we got 14 eggs from the add and added 12 of ours and took our shot. We were given our Hova Bator, one with the fan. So we invested in a turner to increase our success and we are now proud parents. We only had one infertile egg from the E.O. So we had 25 to go with. Good rate. All went well to the lockdown. We had 100% success with our Australorps but a disappointing 53% with the E.O.’s. We went on your site and seen a few tips. So we upped the humidity high and crossed our fingers. We were too late and it didn’t work. We got 7/13 hatch the remaining 6 we just check and 5 were fully formed and should have hatched. We feel that they are large chicks, larger then our Australorps and were tight in the shell, with the lack of humidity to help them out we lost them. Very disappointing in but think we can correct the problem for next year’s hatch. We learned so much and kept a journal the hole way through.We now have 7 very healthy looking E.O’s , 11 healthy Aussies’s with one with the spraddle leg or a bad hip we are in the process of trying to correct. Must have hurt itself during the hatch. Going to try and send some pictures.Nope pictures a no go. Got them uploaded to the site but couldn't figure how to attach them here. Sorry they are so cute.

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2013-03-26 15:09:40

Re: Glad to be invited

And we are very glad you came I certainly hope you enjoy this site and EO's as much as the rest of us do. You will learn a lot and feel free to ask any questions as there is always someone willing to give advice and encouragement.

Some of us are driven by the need to make animals a part of our lives. We are soothed by their presence, fascinated by their behavior, and amused by their antics.

Re: Glad to be invited

Welcome aboard Hollowridge! I'm pumped to hear my babies hatched out, though we could have wished for better results. Don't be discouraged! Hatching is an Art and a Science and you always get better at it as you go. I am expecting my delivery of eggs from Paula at Flat Rock Farm tomorrow and I will set them Friday. I'll save you a nice looking roo to put with your new girls! Our goals here are to help each other to save this wonderful breed. There are always problems along the way but that's what friends are for! (Helping I mean, not giving us problems ). Check out the articles linked in the hatching and incubation section on a variety of topics. I tried out dry incubation, but was NOT IMPRESSED with the results. Humidity is a HUGE factor in winter and shrink wrapping your own chicks is heart-breaking .

Perhaps we can convince you to set another hatch? The best cure for a less than perfect hatch is of course, another one!

Again welcome aboard and never hesitate to ask for help and advice!

No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it's not the same river and he's not the same man.~Heraclitus

Re: Glad to be invited

Welcome Hollowridge. I hoep you enjoy our site!

That is actually a pretty good start. My first ever hatch, 5 years ago, was 3 survivors out of 49 eggs. Not a good incubator, and I didn't realize till it was too late! I hope you love your new chicks. They are addictive.

Re: Glad to be invited

skeffling lavender farm wrote:

Welcome Hollowridge. I hoep you enjoy our site!

That is actually a pretty good start. My first ever hatch, 5 years ago, was 3 survivors out of 49 eggs. Not a good incubator, and I didn't realize till it was too late! I hope you love your new chicks. They are addictive.

That's some serious culling there, Claire! Least you know you started out with some tough ones!

Re: Glad to be invited

Re: Glad to be invited

riverbendfarm wrote:

Welcome aboard Hollowridge! I'm pumped to hear my babies hatched out, though we could have wished for better results. Don't be discouraged! Hatching is an Art and a Science and you always get better at it as you go. I am expecting my delivery of eggs from Paula at Flat Rock Farm tomorrow and I will set them Friday. I'll save you a nice looking roo to put with your new girls! Our goals here are to help each other to save this wonderful breed. There are always problems along the way but that's what friends are for! (Helping I mean, not giving us problems ). Check out the articles linked in the hatching and incubation section on a variety of topics. I tried out dry incubation, but was NOT IMPRESSED with the results. Humidity is a HUGE factor in winter and shrink wrapping your own chicks is heart-breaking .

Perhaps we can convince you to set another hatch? The best cure for a less than perfect hatch is of course, another one!

Again welcome aboard and never hesitate to ask for help and advice!

Thanks for the information and help. And of course for the eggs!! Our new Australorps are very active and run when you try and touch them were as the E.O.s seem to love the attention. We will only do one hatch a year, small farming! We want the fresh eggs and meat but also want to keep the breeds true. We are glad for the offer of the roo and will gladly take you up on that to help strengthen the line.